Variety: The most overrated videogames of 2008

Variety writes:

"These are not games we thought were bad, or even disappointing. They're the videogames that Variety's critics found fell the shortest of what most other critics and/or the public thought. It also, interestingly, the only category in this whole process in which all four of us agree about a game."

[Cajun Chicken]

No mention of Gears of War 2?

[SickNick85]

variety is a microsoft press site...

[darthv72]

Funny you mention that considering that GTA4, Fallout 3, Castle crashers and Braid are all available on the 360.

These games aren't about bad or good but about falling short of hype and expectation.

@mar-tyr-dom

I have not played fable 2 so I don't have any expectations towards it. I have played gears 2 and "my expectations" were met.

Please remember that it isn't about the game being good or bad but how well did it live up to the hype and expectation it received (both personal as well as public). Those games on the list all have strengths and weaknesses and according to the folks at Variety, just didn't meet "their" standards.

If they meet yours...that is all that should matter.

[MAR-TYR-DOM]

let me guess, so Fable 2 and Gears2 didnt fall short of expectations?

[Smacktard]

I'd actually agree with Gears of War 2. I thought that GoW2 was gonna be pretty awesome until I played it. I found it pretty boring.

Seems like anything with good graphics and guns is an amazing game, nowadays.

[JBaby343]

I got bored with it and was not impressed compared to the hype and what I was expecting. The first disappointed me too though so I guess this one had a lot to prove. Either way it wasn't what it was made out to be in my opinion.

Just my opinion. We are each entitled.

[StephanieBBB]

Let's all hopp on the bandwagon, oh right that was the opposite of what is good to do according to this article...

Hypocrits ftw...

[season007]

along with friends coming over and my girlfriend of course...

You don't have to create something to enjoy LBP
The built in levels are good enough for you to kill a lot of time

[Tarasque]

My most overrated is, Halo 3, Gears 2, Fable 2, MGS4, LBP and GT5 pro.

[dantesparda]

I actually agree with Tarasque for once. While none of those games are terrible, i definitely think that they are all overrated

[phosphor112]

Variety!? You gotta be kidding me, since when have we listened to them?

EDIT:
Now that I read it, how is LBP overrated? How much hype did that game really have? "Awesome graphics! And those little sack people are so cute I could just eat them up! Now where's the game?" What? Are you some kind of fool? Tell me who hyped that game? Honestly who did? You want to talk overhyped/rated, talk about Halo 3. LBP got what it deserved in ratings

Protip: Variety is horrible and should never be on N4G again.

[The Lazy One]

It was over rated. It's not bad, just over rated.

In the months leading up to LBP release, you could have sworn it was the video game messiah getting ready to lead us to a bright future of gaming. I had people quite literally tell me that they could make any game in LBP. I had people tell me that the game was single handedly going to make the PS3 outsell the 360 in every territory.

LBP did not live up to the hype, not because it was bad, but because the hype built up for the game was so ridiculously high, it was unreachable by any game.

[thor]

I was anticipating LBP before its release. I had seen countless gameplay videos, and I knew it was the kind of game that I would absolutely love. I got into the beta, and loved every second of it. I got the retail release of the game, and I'm still loving every second of it. The only thing I have against it is the annoying bugs that keep surfacing; hopefully these can be remedied in a future patch. But it most certainly lived up to my lofty expectations. There are certain people that the game appeals to in every way, and I am one of them. If you still think the only reason this game has received such accolade is its level editor, you're dead wrong. I played one skateboard level from the story mode with my brother and a friend. For 2 hours. It's hard for me to think of many better gaming experiences to be honest.

[PataponKnight]

Patapon? Noooooooooooooooooo!

[The Lazy One]

I'm happy for you... I never said it was a bad game, I said the hype was ridiculously out of control on it.

Good for you that you didn't let the hype get to you, and had realistic expectations, but a lot of people didn't.

To be quite frank, I could walk through the pearly gates of heaven and receive absolute and pure joy and it wouldn't live up to the hype that LBP had before it's launch. If you don't believe me look around this very site in the weeks and months before the launch.

[cherrypie]

No. Nope. No mention of Gears of War 2.

BUT, they *DID* mention Little Big Planet about 3 or 4 times as a massive disappointment.

And, based on the sales, looks like most gamers agree.

[The Lazy One]

not disappointing or bad... overhyped.

[grantps3]

gears of war 2 is over rated, but its still a good game

i would say littlebigplanet is under rated.

[Hiruma Youchi]

Cant a good game be a good game without having to face the ``its Overrated `` bull ?

[Mini Mario]

"What? Are you some kind of fool? Tell me who hyped that game? Honestly who did?" (LBP)

Is this your first visit to this site or something>?

[lokiroo420]

Four people who need their fingers removed immediately!

[Dark_Overlord]

Its one of the best games on the DS, they're probably moaning because its too hard for them

[Saint Sony]

Same thing with Braid, looks like the authors of this so called article can't handle platform design nor puzzles.

[kwyjibo]

Nothing more, nothing less.

It oozes charm, and I much prefer the faux-European animation style to generic anime conventions, but in the end, it's a puzzle book. Games offer so much scope for interactivity, yet the puzzles are static and do not make much use of the medium.

I liked Professor Layton, because I like good puzzles. But I really can't agree with those awarding this game any more than 8/10.

----

Oh, and it damn well annoyed me that all the Nintendo Wi-Fi unlockable puzzles were already preprogrammed onto the cartridge, and that you weren't downloading anything new. They gimped the game to show off the Wi-fi service.

----

My DS pick of the year was Advance Wars, even though they made the ridiculous story even more unbearable by trying to make it dark and realistic, and then totally failing - the gameplay has gone back to basics and is all the more better for it.

[Johnny Rotten]

LBP, and Castle Crashers are overrated??

Professor Layton was going to be my next DS game.

[ablecain]

Variety is a terrible publication

[Information Minister]

So now you're not going to buy the game because the "gaming experts" at Variety said so?! Not the smartest move if you ask me.

[Johnny Rotten]

I was trying to say Professor Layton looks interesting and is up there on my "to buy list" of games.

[Cheeseknight28]

Layton was the best game released in 2008 for the DS. Go buy it.

[Bubble Buddy]

Note; Variety is writing this...

[NaiNaiNai]

first off i know for a fact LBP is not overrated. and its hard to find fallout 3 overrated because of so many people who loved it, and since the game was not uber hyped like GEOW2, and GTA4. i dont see why its on the list. and the other games on the list i dont even recall hearing about so how are they overrated. @[email protected]
-nai-

[Halochampian]

I agree.

Fallout 3 is the biggest surprise. I really wasnt hyping it. I knew I wanted it but I didnt know I would love it as much as I am. Absolutely one the gems of this year and possibly my favorite of the year.

[Fowack]

GTA4 and haze, every other game to me somewhat lived up to it's hipe. Lbp and fallout shouldn't be on there for one obvious reason.

[HighDefinition]

LBP, MGS4 and Fallout3 (pick your order) are the best games this generation so far.

My GOTY is LBP, infact IMO, it`s the best game I`ve ever played.

[Tarasque]

"My GOTY is LBP, infact IMO, it`s the best game I`ve ever played."

I'm sorry........

[HighDefinition]

Your sorry it`s the best game I`ve ever played?

Why`s that?

[cpuchess]

I don't even know why people keep playing LBP. I played it the first week and haven't touched it since. It's just obstacle courses over and over.

[HighDefinition]

the Paint guns?

[myothercar]

Wow @ LittleBigPlanet being on there so many times. I feel sorry for them. This reason was repeated multiple times in the article: I don't want to create levels and I don't want to play my friends levels. I don't want to depend on other people for fun content. The game should be fun on its own, etc.

Stupid people write stupid articles. If you apply their user-created content phobia to YouTube, then YouTube sucks too because it's just a bunch of user-made videos and absolutely no original content.

At least LBP has an hours-long story mode and Metal Gear Solid DLC. There's plenty to love if you're afraid of user-created content. Besides, the user-created levels they played (duck hunt, littlebigcalculator) are mostly from the beta and have little gameplay, but if you just go on there yourself you'll find there are just thousands upon thousands of original, artistic and fun levels to play, all for free. And if your friends don't make anything that you're interested in playing, you need to get more friends than just the douches who wrote this article.

Variety should stick to movies.

[reelife]

nah.... I mean.... the.... ....? wha...?
VARIETY?!!!!!

[celldomceen1]

Man this was weird every time i go back to lbp planet i am amazed at the new content that i am finding. Thats why i dont play lbp everyday, for me its always like the first time i played. There are some people that dont get lbp planet and these guys are in that group....too bad.

[PotNoodle]

The LittleBigPlanet reasons are just amazingly stupid. It is like me saying about Gears of war 2,
"I don't care about the locusts, i don't want to shoot them, i don't want to hide behind cover all the time, i don't want to play online, i don't want to play with a friend, i don't want a chainsaw on my gun, i don't want to play as big bulky men, i don't want to know about Dom's wife, i don't want great graphics, i want a game i can play!"

See, sounds silly when you put it like that, doesn't it?

Damn this article is stupid.

[AllseeingEye]

Seems like this article is created for hits.

[PS360WII]

Jeez what's up with the writer :(

A few I can agree with but the majority no way. Plus they dogged Prof Layton which is unforgivable and the points they gave why Fallout 3 is on the list are the persons problem not the games fault. 'Oh I don't know which skill to level up this game blows' >< whatever

[callahan09]

Everybody knows Variety suck at reviewing videogames. This is more proof that their videogame critics are morons. The only game of the entire year (hell, maybe the only game EVER) that I personally think got more amazing reviews than it deserved is Grand Theft Auto IV. That game was a total and complete step back for the series and every reviewer lauded it like it was the most revolutionary thing in gaming history. I bought it and I was bored to tears with it.

[NickIni]

I completely agree. I haven't been disappointed with a single game I've bought/played this year, apart from GTA IV.

[The Lazy One]

they are saying which games were overrated.

if you take a scale from 1-100, and you have something at 90, which is pretty good from 1-100, and build the hype to the point where everyone expects 100, it's over rated.

It's still a 90, and not bad, but it's over rated anyway.

[sajj316]

referencing Variety for a gaming top 10 is like referencing 1up for a movie top 10. Its nice that variety is throwing in variety ... but do what you do best (which is absolutely nothing at all).

[Unicron]

While people are entitled to their opinions, I find it rather silly that one of the complaints about LBP is that "it takes time to make a good level."

Gee, ya think? We live in an age of instant gratification, where trial and error have been eschewed in favor of handing you the last boss on a silver platter. Of course a well made level is going to take TIME. Is that for everyone? No, but I'm amazed at both the quality and ingenuity of LBP and its user created content. Items like the Paintinator are even cooler, and all I can hope for some day is programmable enemy types.

[Highatus]

5 mins of my life gone.

[jack who]

lbf

[thereapersson]

Shut the f*ck up, Jack ASS.

[razorbladelight]

that was great!!!

[Firstkn1ghT]

LMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love how sony children get so pissed when you talk sh*t abou thier games. Kinda like your making fun of his momma. HAHA, Good stuff!

[goflyakite]

Ha, I love how you get such a kick out of it firstknight.
Little things amuse some people I guess..

thereaper was merely replacing a word just like jack did.

[JasonPC360PS3Wii]

Anger management

[BlackCountryBob]

How was Patapon OVER rated? It was a really fun and terribly overlooked game by most PSP users. It should be one of the most under-rated games. Seriously, how can a game which is on absolutely nobody's top xx games of 08 and barely sold any copies be overrated?

IMO Far Cry 2 should be on that list, open world is great but you pretty much do the same approach and attack 100 times, the missions are more repetitive than GTA4 which really says something.

[xplosneer]

That was my biggest WTF, even though a bunch on that list are off. Patapon was the funnest PSP game I played, absolutely loved it. I may love music anyways, but REALLY? OVERrated?! No.

[Theoneneo81]

agreed i could list 3 games that were way over hyped that werent on that list well one was but yeah

Fable 2
GTAIV
Gears 2